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muriel_volestrangler

(104,773 posts)
Thu Sep 4, 2025, 03:41 PM Sep 4

NHS surgeon who had his legs removed to satisfy sexual interest is jailed for fraud

Disturbing and bizarre - and adjacent to some even worse things, so call that a trigger warning.

A surgeon who froze his legs so they would require amputation to satisfy a sexual obsession before making nearly £500,000 in insurance claims has been jailed.

Neil Hopper, a 49-year-old vascular surgeon, was given 32 months after he pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud by false representation. This related to claims made to insurance companies that his legs had been amputated because of sepsis rather than self-inflicted injury.

He also admitted three charges of possessing extreme pornographic images relating to videos from a website called the EunuchMaker.

Despite reassurances from NHS officials, former patients of Hopper are now seeking legal advice over the treatment they received from him for fear it was not needed.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/04/nhs-surgeon-legs-removed-jailed-fraud

Caught from his association with an "extreme body modification ring", the leader of which got a life sentence with a minimum of 22 years, for doing extreme things to children aged 16.
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NHS surgeon who had his legs removed to satisfy sexual interest is jailed for fraud (Original Post) muriel_volestrangler Sep 4 OP
Whaaat??? 2MuchNoise Sep 4 #1
Well that does seem a bit extreme. milestogo Sep 4 #2
Yeah, I was surprised at that. Maybe as a vascular surgeon, he knew how to make it look like sepsis muriel_volestrangler Sep 4 #3
But I would also think "surely a surgeon knows how to avoid sepsis". milestogo Sep 4 #4

milestogo

(21,845 posts)
2. Well that does seem a bit extreme.
Thu Sep 4, 2025, 03:53 PM
Sep 4

Actually I am surprised that whichever surgeon performed his amputations didn't look into the "freezing" as self-harm, which it clearly was.

muriel_volestrangler

(104,773 posts)
3. Yeah, I was surprised at that. Maybe as a vascular surgeon, he knew how to make it look like sepsis
Thu Sep 4, 2025, 04:12 PM
Sep 4

or believable enough. Most people, presented with legs needed amputating, aren't going to think "maybe they did this to themselves" quickly.

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